Are you ready to be bewitched by Natasha?
The Secret Circle follows the lives of a small coven of witches, who welcome new girl in town Cassie into their group.
We had a chat with Natasha Henstridge, who plays Dawn Chamberlain, the local school principal and mum to Faye, the coven's resident bad girl.
Can you talk a little bit about your character on the show?
I play the principal of the high school where all the kids go to school, and I also play the mother of Faye, who is the resident ‘baddie’. She is a bit of a dark witch but, that being said, there are a lot of different sides to her.
What drew you to this role and to this show?
There is a lot more going on that meets the eye with the character right from the get-go. She is very much in a position that she is able to keep her eye on and control everything. I keep using the term, 'puppet-master', because that’s how I think of her – she is pulling a lot of strings and hoping to get what she needs. But it’s just a really pivotal character and a fun character. It’s fun to do something with magic as well.
Are we going to see your character get to do magic too?
Maybe. But the interesting thing is that they don’t have any power, the generation that I am in has lost their power. There is a lot of manipulating, but there may be devices and things that enable her to have power briefly and temporarily at times, but she wants the full circle back together so she has all the power, of course. But yes, you will see her do some magic.
In the pilot, you tell Gale Harold’s character that it’s good that all the kids are brought together, but at the end of the day, your character is Faye’s mother. Do you think she is eventually going to regret that, possibly putting her child in danger or giving her too much power?
Yeah, it’s a very interesting dynamic that she has there, because she is the mother, she does love her daughter, and yet she is willing to use her daughter. But I think that she really believes that she is using her daughter for the greater good.
What do you think makes witches so popular in pop culture right now?
I think that witches are interesting for many different reasons – you look at the history and the past and people thinking of women as these super-powerful beings, and the idea that it has a lot to do with nature, and the 'What if?' element. Anything that has that supernatural element, the possibility of the unknown, I think that is interesting for people, and that goes for witches as well.
How much do you like to know what's going on, script-wise, or do you like to just take it as it comes?
As much as it is nice to kind of know where your character is going, it’s a little bit more of a surprise when you just read it as well. It’s fun. I liken it to Christmas, reading a new script of a show that you are doing – there are some fun surprises in there. Also, I think if you know too much ahead, I think it will start to influence you. Without you even knowing, it will start influencing how you play the in-the-moment stuff that you are doing. So yes and no, I guess.
When it comes to the genre in itself, do you have a favourite supernatural book or film? Or is there anything you may have used to help you build this character?
Yeah, I think Species was a brilliant movie. I don’t know why but it just stood out to me. Just kidding. But no, not really. I like different aspects of the genre – I have always liked the idea of when you are a kid, watching different types of shows like The Bionic Woman or different things where women are empowered.
You play a mother on the show, so have you taken on a mentor-like role with any of the kids that play opposite you?
It’s funny, but they are so mature and smart and talented and worldly and traveled that I don’t feel at all like I am working with kids, even though one of the cast members is 19. But then, one of the other girls is 26 and I’m 37, so no, not really. They have all got their stuff together, I don’t need to mentor them at all.
